Cityretreat

Happy New Year!!

Hope everyone had a great time celebrating last night and returned home safe and sound.

I have to tell you, sober NYE is pretty brutal. We aren't big NYE people in general and obviously my current state only further limits the potential for a rockin' beginning to 2009. The last few years we've had some folks over to the house and then headed over to a local pub. It is two blocks away so easy to walk, no worries about getting a cab home. But being sober on one of the biggest drinking nights of the year is tough. Hard to hold a friendly conversation b/c no one wants to make real conversation three sheets to the wind, hard to engage in the funny drunk conversations when you're not.

I made it later than I thought I would - 1:30 (whoa hoo) and rang in the NY with copious amounts of soda water :)

BUT, what I did learn today is that stores are open on New Years Day. Did you have any idea? In all my years I've never made it off the couch on Jan 1. I thought everything was closed and never ventured out far enough to prove otherwise.

This morning I thought I'd just check and see. I still had a few returns to do and merchandise credits gathering dust in my wallet. And what do you know? They were open! And not surprisingly, I was one of only about a dozen other people in Chicago who had any desire to leave the house, so I breezed downtown, easily found parking, made my way through the stores without any trouble, and got tons done!

I bought a few baby necessities -- newborn onsies and socks. Boy, they are really small. It is hard to imagine there is going to be someone so small living in the house soon.

And I was home in time to enjoy some solid couch time too, a perfect start to the New Year!